Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Diagnosis

(asked on 12th June 2025) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish waiting times for ADHD assessment by region; and what steps he is taking to help Integrated Care Boards with the longest waits reduce those waiting times.


Answered by
Stephen Kinnock Portrait
Stephen Kinnock
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 19th June 2025

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment and diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for individual organisations by regions in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan; it has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and publishing more localised data in future.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report is expected to be published shortly, with the final report expected in the summer. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support local systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.

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